Acadian French Explained
| Person: | Acadien / Acadienne |
| People: | Acadians |
| Language: | Acadien |
| Country: | Acadia |
Acadian French (French: français acadien, acadjonne) is a variety of French spoken by Acadians, mostly in the region of Acadia, Canada. Acadian French has 7 regional accents, including Chiac and Brayon.[2]
Phonology
Since there was relatively little linguistic contact with France from the late 18th century to the 20th century, Acadian French retained features that died out during the French standardization efforts of the 19th century such as these:
- The pronounced as //ʁ// phoneme, Acadian French has retained an alveolar trill or an alveolar flap, but modern speakers pronounce it as in Parisian French: French: rouge (red) can be pronounced pronounced as /[ruːʒ]/, pronounced as /[ɾuːʒ]/ or pronounced as /[ʁuːʒ]/.
- In nonstandard Acadian French, the third-person plural ending of verbs ‹French: -ont›, such as French: ils mangeont in French pronounced as /i(l) mɑ̃ˈʒɔ̃/ (they eat), is still pronounced, unlike standard French (France and Quebec) French: ils mangent (pronounced as /[i(l) ˈmɒ̃ːʒ(ə)]/ (France)/pronounced as /[i ˈmãːʒ(ə)]/ or (Quebec)/pronounced as /[ɪl ˈmãːʒ(ə)]/), the ‹e› can be pronounced or not, but ‹-nt› is always silent.
According to Wiesmath (2006),[3] some characteristics of Acadian are:
- The verbal ending -ont in the third person plural
- Palatalization of pronounced as //k// and pronounced as //ɡ// to pronounced as /[tʃ]/ and pronounced as /[dʒ]/, respectively
- A feature called where is pronounced pronounced as /[bʊn]/
These features typically occur in the speech of older people.
Many aspects of Acadian French (vocabulary and "trill r", etc.) are still common in rural areas in the South West of France. Speakers of Metropolitan French and even of other Canadian varieties of French sometimes have difficulty understanding Acadian French. Within North America, its closest relative is Louisiana French spoken in Southern Louisiana since both were born out of the same population that were affected during the Expulsion of the Acadians.
See also Chiac, a variety with strong English influence, and St. Marys Bay French, a distinct variety of Acadian French spoken around Clare, Tusket, Nova Scotia and also Moncton, New Brunswick.
Palatalization
not to be confused with affrication typical of Quebec French.
- pronounced as //k// and pronounced as //tj// are commonly replaced by pronounced as /[tʃ]/ before a front vowel. For example, French: quel, queue, cuillère and French: quelqu'un are usually pronounced French: tchel, tcheue, tchuillère and French: tchelqu'un. French: Tiens is pronounced French: tchin pronounced as /[t͡ʃɛ̃]/.
- pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //dj// often become pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ (sometimes pronounced as /[ʒ]/) before a front vowel. For example, French: bon dieu and French: gueule become pronounced as /[bɔ̃ ˈdʒø]/ and pronounced as /[d͡ʒœl]/ in informal Acadian French. French: Braguette becomes pronounced as /[bɾaˈd͡ʒɛt]/. (This pronunciation led to the word Cajun, from Acadien.)
Metathesis
Metathesis is quite common. For example, French: mercredi ('Wednesday') is French: mercordi, and French: pauvreté ('poverty') is French: pauveurté. French: Je (the pronoun 'I') is frequently pronounced French: euj and French: Le is frequently pronounced French: eul.
In words, "re" is often pronounced "er". For instance :
- French: erçu for "French: reçu", French: ertourner for "French: retourner", French: erpas for "French: repas", French: ergret for "French: regret", French: s'entertenir for "French: s'entretenir".
Vowels
- Acadian French has maintained phonemic distinctions between pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //ɑ//, pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɛː//, pronounced as //ø// and pronounced as //ə//, pronounced as //ɛ̃// and pronounced as //œ̃//.
- In informal speech, the pronounced as //ɑ// vowel is realized as pronounced as /[ɔ]/: ('step') pronounced as //pɑ// → pronounced as /[pɔ]/ and (arm) pronounced as //bʁɑ// → pronounced as /[bʁɔ]/, etc.
- The short pronounced as //ɛ// is realized as pronounced as /[ɛ]/ and it is the same as Parisian French.
- pronounced as //ɛː// is open to pronounced as /[æː]/ or closed to pronounced as /[eː]/, it depends on the region: ('party') pronounced as //fɛːt// → pronounced as /[fæːt]/ or pronounced as /[feːt]/ and ('case') pronounced as //kɛːs// → pronounced as /[kæːs]/ or pronounced as /[keːs]/, etc.
- The ⟨oi⟩ spelling has different pronunciations. Old speakers pronounce it pronounced as /[wɛ]/, because the traditional Parisian pronunciation was like this: ('king') pronounced as /[rwɛ]/. But in modern standard Acadian French, it is pronounced pronounced as /[wa]/. Even where there is no circumflex, there are some words which are phonemically pronounced pronounced as //wɑ// and the phoneme is pronounced as pronounced as /[wɑ]/ in formal speech but pronounced as /[wɔ]/ in informal speech: ('three') pronounced as /[tʁ̥wɑ]/ or pronounced as /[tʁ̥wɔ]/ and ('nut') pronounced as /[nwɑ]/ or pronounced as /[nwɔ]/. The ⟨oî⟩ spelling is phonemically pronounced as //wɑ//, but old speakers pronounce it pronounced as /[weː]/, while modern speakers pronounce it pronounced as /[wɑː]/ as in Quebec French: ('box') pronounced as /[bweːt]/ or pronounced as /[bwɑːt]/ and ('grow') pronounced as /[kɾweːt(ɾ)]/ or pronounced as /[kʁ̥wɑːt(ʁ̥)]/, etc.
Elision of final consonants
- Consonant clusters finishing a word are reduced, often losing altogether the last or two last consonants in informal speech: ('table') pronounced as //tabl// → pronounced as /[tab]/ and ('book'/'pound') pronounced as //livʁ// → pronounced as /[liːv]/,[4] etc.
Vocabulary and grammar
Yves Cormier's (ComiersAcad)[5] includes the majority of Acadian regionalisms. From a syntactic point of view, a major feature is the use of for the first-person singular and plural; the same phenomenon takes place with for the third persons. Acadian still differentiates the form from the form.
The following words and expressions are most commonly restricted to Acadian French south of the Miramichi River, but some are also used north of the Miramichi River and in Quebec French (also known as Québécois) or Joual for the Montreal version of Quebec French. The Miramichi line is an isogloss separating South Acadian (archaic or "true" Acadian) from the Canadian French dialects to the north, North Acadian, Brayon (Madawaskan) and Quebec French (Laurentian French). South Acadian typically has morphosyntactic features such as [je [V [-on] … ]] (as in "we speak") that distinguishes it from dialects to the north or elsewhere in the Americas such as Cajun French, Saint-Barthélemy French or Métis French that have [nouzot [on- [V …]]] (as in). Geddes (1908),[6] the oldest authority on any variety of French spoken in Northern Acadia, records of the morphosyntactic characteristics of "true" Acadian spoken in the South and adjacent islands to the West.[7]
Some examples of "true" Acadian French are:
- French: achaler: 'to bother' (Fr: French: ennuyer) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: ajeuve: (variation of French: achever, literally 'to complete') 'a while ago' (Fr: French: récemment, tout juste)
- French: amanchure: 'thing, thingy, also the way things join together: the joint or union of two things' (Fr: French: chose, truc, machin)
- French: amarrer: (literally, 'to moor') 'to tie' (Fr: French: attacher)[8]
- French: amoureux: (lit. 'lover') 'burdock' (Fr: French: (capitule de la) bardane; Quebec: French: toque, grakia) (also very common in Quebec French)
- French: asteur: (contraction of French: à cette heure) 'now' (Fr: French: maintenant, à cette heure, désormais) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: attoquer: 'to lean' (Fr: French: appuyer)
- French: atentot: 'earlier' (Fr: French: plus tôt)
- French: avoir de la misère: 'to have difficulty' (Fr: French: avoir de la difficulté, avoir du mal) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: bailler: 'to give' (Fr: French: donner) (Usually 'to yawn')
- French: baratte: 'a piece of machinery or tool of sorts that no longer works properly', e.g. "My car is a lemon so it is a " (very common in New Brunswick)
- French: batterie: 'the central passage through a barn (French: granges acadiennes) flanked by two storage bays adjacent to the eaves'.[8]
- French: besson: 'twin' (Fr: French: jumeau/jumelle)
- French: boloxer: 'to confuse, disrupt, unsettle' (Fr: French: causer une confusion, déranger l'ordre régulier et établi)
- French: Bonhomme Sept-heures: 'a fearful character of fairy tales who would visit unpleasant deeds upon young children if they did not go to bed at the designated hour'.[8]
- French: bord: (literally 'the side of a ship') meaning 'the other side (of a street, river, etc.'); meaning 'changing sides (in a team competition)'; meaning 'turning back or retracing one's steps'.[8]
- French: boucane: 'smoke, steam' (Fr: French: fumée, vapeur) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: bouchure: 'fence' (Fr: French: clôture)
- French: brâiller: 'to cry, weep' (Fr: French: pleurer) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: brogane: 'work shoe, old or used shoe' (Fr: French: chaussure de travail, chaussure d'occasion)
- French: brosse: 'drinking binge' (Fr: French: beuverie) (common in Quebec French)
- French: caler: 'to sink' (Fr: French: sombrer, couler) (also 'to drink fast in one shot', French: caler une bière) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: char: 'car' (Fr:) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: chassis: 'window' (Fr: French: fenêtre)
- French: chavirer: 'to go crazy' (Fr: French: devenir fou, folle)
- French: chu: 'I am' (Fr: French: je suis, or, colloquially French: chui) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: cosses: 'peas, green beans' (Fr: French: mangetout)
- French: cossé: 'what, or asking for information specifying something'. (Fr: French: quoi)
- French: cotchiner: 'to cheat' (Fr: French: tricher)
- French: coude: 'ship's knees' that are a distinctive and unusual structural feature of early Acadian houses.[8]
- French: Djâbe: 'Devil' (Fr: French: Diable)
- French: de service: 'proper, properly' (Fr: French: adéquat, comme il faut)
- French: èchell: (literally 'a ship's ladder') 'stairway' (Fr: French: échelle)[8]
- French: ej: 'I' (Fr: French: je)
- French: élan: 'moment, while' (Fr: French: instant, moment)
- French: erj: 'and I' (Fr: French: et je suis)
- French: espèrer: 'to wait; say welcome, to invite' (Fr: French: attendre, inviter)
- French: faire zire: 'to gross out' (Fr: French: dégouter)
- French: farlaque: 'loose, wild, of easy virtue' (Fr: French: dévergondée, au moeurs légères)
- French: fournaise: (lit. 'furnace') 'a wood stove, oven'
- French: frette: 'cold' (Fr: French: froid) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: fricot: 'traditional Acadian stew prepared with chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, dumplings (lumps of dough), and seasoned with savoury'
- French: garrocher: 'to throw, chuck' (Fr: French: lancer) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: le grand mènage: 'spring cleaning', often more comprehensive than in other cultures.[8]
- French: greer: (literally, 'rigging of a ship's masts') 'to describe a woman's attire or decoration of a youngster's bicycle'.[8]
- French: grenier: 'a sleeping loft'.[8]
- French: hardes: 'clothes, clothing' (Fr: French: vêtements)
- French: harrer : 'to beat, maltreat' (Fr: French: battre ou traiter pauvrement, maltraîter)
- French: hucher: 'to cry out, scream' (Fr: French: appeler (qqn) à haute voix)
- French: icet: 'precisely here' (Fr: French: ici)
- French: icitte: 'here; around here' (Fr: French: ici)
- French: innocent: 'simple, foolish or stupid' (Fr: French: simple d'esprit, bête, qui manque de jugement) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: itou: 'also, too' (Fr: French: aussi, de même, également) (common in Quebec French)
- French: larguer: (literally 'loosening a ship's mooring lines') 'to let go of any object'[8]
- French: maganer: 'to overwork, wear out, tire, weaken' (Fr: French: traiter durement, malmener, fatiguer, affaiblir, endommager, détériorer) (very common in Quebec French)
- French: mais que: 'when' + future tense (Fr: French: lorsque, quand (suivi d'un futur))
- malin/maline: 'mean or angry' (lit. malignant)
- French: marabout
'to be irritated or angry'
- French: mitan: 'middle, centre' (Fr: French: milieu, centre)
- French: orignal: 'moose'
- French: païen: (lit. 'pagan') 'hick, uneducated person, peasant' (Fr:)
- French: palote: 'clumsy' (Fr: French: maladroit)
- French: parker: 'park' (Fr: French: stationner)
- French: pâté chinois: 'a shepherd's pie casserole of mashed potatoes, ground meat, and corn'.[8]
- French: peste: 'bad odor' (Fr: French: puenteur)
- French: pire à yaller/au pire à yaller: 'at worst' (Fr: French: au pire)
- French: plaise: 'plaice' (Fr: French: plie)
- French: ploquer: 'having or showing determined courage' (lit. 'plucky')
- French: [[ploye]]: 'buckwheat pancake', a tradition of Edmundston, New Brunswick, also common in Acadian communities in Maine (Fr: French: crêpe au sarrasin)
- French: point, poinne: 'not', or a similar term of negation (Fr: French: pas)
- French: pomme de pré: (lit. 'meadow apple') American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (Fr: French: canneberge; Quebec: French: atoca)
- French: pot-en-pot: 'a meat pie of venison, rabbits, and game birds'.[8]
- French: [[poutine râpée]]: 'a ball made of grated potato with pork in the centre', a traditional Acadian dish
- French: quai: 'a portable wheeled boating pier pulled out of the water to avoid ice damage'.[8]
- French: qu'ri: (from) 'to fetch, go get' (Fr: French: aller chercher)
- French: rinque: 'just'
- French: se haler: (lit. 'to haul oneself') 'to hurry' (Fr: French: se dépêcher)
- French: se badjeuler: 'to argue' (Fr: French: se disputer)
- French: soira: 'see you later' (Fr: French: au revoir)
- French: j'étions: 'we were' (Fr: French: nous étions)
- French: ils étiont: 'they were' (Fr: French: ils étaient)
- French: taweille: 'Mikmaq woman, traditionally associated with medicine or Midewiwin' (Fr: French: Amérindienne)
- French: tchequ'affaire, tchequ'chouse, quètchose, quotchose: 'something' (Fr: French: quelque chose) (and are common in Quebec French)
- French: tcheque, tcheques: 'a few' (Fr: French: quelque)
- French: tête de violon: 'ostrich fern fiddlehead' (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
- French: tétine-de-souris: (lit. 'mouse tit') 'slender glasswort, an edible green plant that grows in salt marshes' (Salicornia europaea) (Fr: French: salicorne d'Europe)
- French: [[tintamarre]]: 'din' (also refers to an Acadian noisemaking tradition whereby people gather in the streets and parade through town)
- French: tourtiéres: 'meat pies', sometimes with potatoes.[8]
- French: valdrague: 'in disorder or confusion'
- French: vaillant, vaillante: 'active, hard-working, brave' (Fr: French: actif, laborieux, courageux) (common in Quebec French)
Numerals
- In the Nova Scotian communities of Wedgeport and Pubnico the numbers French: soixante-dix ('seventy'), French: quatre-vingts ('eighty') and French: quatre-vingt-dix ('ninety') are instead called French: septante, huitante and French: nonante respectively, a phenomenon also observed in Swiss French and Belgian French.
St. Marys Bay French, a conservative dialect of Acadian French spoken in the St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia region, is notable for maintaining use of the in spoken conversation.[9] In most modern dialects of French, the tense is only used in formal writing and formal speech.
See also
References
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas 1 and Census Agglomerations, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090725075428/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/themes/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?Temporal=2001&PID=62911&APATH=3&GID=431515&METH=1&PTYPE=55440&THEME=44&FOCUS=0&AID=0&PLACENAME=0&PROVINCE=0&SEARCH=0&GC=0&GK=0&VID=0&FL=0&RL=0&FREE=0 . Jul 25, 2009 . Statistics Canada.
- Web site: Blog 101 . Quebec Culture . "Our 32 accents" Series: QUÉBEC x 8 – Post 3 of 7 (#88) . Quebec Culture Blog . en . 14 November 2014.
- Book: Wiesmath, Raphaële . Le français acadien: analyse syntaxique d'un corpus oral recueilli au Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada . l'Hamalthan . 2006. https://archive.org/details/lefrancaisacadie0000wies. Accessed 5 May 2011.
- Web site: PHONO: Caractéristiques phonétiques du français québécois.
- https://books.google.com/books?id=nJGvPwAACAAJ&dq=dictionnaire+du+fran%C3%A7ais+acadien&hl=en&ei=XXjCTci3LIKWOvn5xZ0I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA{{cite book|last=Cormier|first=Yves|title=Dictionnaire du français acadien|year=2009|publisher=Fides, Editions}}
- Geddes, James (1908). Study of the Acadian-French language spoken on the north shore of the . Halle: Niemeyer https://archive.org/details/studyofacadianfr00gedd
- Although superficially a phonological descendant of South Acadian French, analysis reveals North Acadian French to be morphosyntactically identical to Quebec French. North Acadian is believed to have resulted from a localized levelling of contact dialects between Québécois and Acadian settlers. Cf. Wittmann, Henri (1995) "." in Fournier, Robert & Henri Wittmann. . Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières, 281–334.http://www.nou-la.org/ling/1995a-fda.pdf
- Web site: Acadian Culture in Maine . Brassieur . C. Ray . . . 3 January 2019 .
- Comeau . Philip . King . Ruth . Butler . Gary R. . New insights on an old rivalry: The passé simple and the passé composé in spoken Acadian French . Journal of French Language Studies . November 2012 . 22 . 3 . 315–343 . 10.1017/S0959269511000524 . en . 0959-2695.
